She's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to grow
by OnceUponAPenname
Summary: There are only a few things that Maria Hill can handle. Working for a secret governemental compagny. Check. Being the unknown daughter of an imbecile who believed that the Hulk would make a great weapon. Check. Preventing an alien invasion was not on her list of things-to-do, this morning. Rated T because of Sir Anthony Stark.
1. prologue

**A/N : ****Hello fellow geeks and nerds ! As you can see, I'm new on Fanfiction and this is my first fanfiction *Yip!* Moreover, it's not just _a _fanfiction : it's an_ Avengers_ fanfiction. It's an idea I've had since the movie came out two years ago, but I didn't know if it was a good idea to start one because there are so many characters and I love each of these characters to death but there are some that I will not try to write - Black Widow - because of their complexity. And Marvel is such a big universe, you'll see some comic references. So yeah, I don't want the characters to be too O.C, so I'll be careful with that. **

**Basically this is the _Avengers _movie in Hill's P.O.V, because I wanted to focuse on her, but the point-of-view will eventually change through chapters. Mostly, it'll be Maria, Steve and Bruce. It won't be longer than ten chapters, I think - started writing the fifth chapter this morning - and will definitely have sequels. What can I say ? My imagination is that big ! **

**It'll follow the _Avengers, Captain America, Agents of _S.H.I.E.L.D storylines.**

**SUMMARY : **_It's S.H.I.E.L.D. They hide a lot of things. People weren't who they pretended to be. No one should be surprised anymore. Especially if they decided that the best way to save the world was a misfit group of superheroes. However, there's only a few things that Maria Hill can handle. Working for a secret governemental compagny. Check. Being the unknown daughter of an imbecile who believed that the Hulk was a good weapon. Check. An alien invasion was not on her list, this monday._

**Rated T for language and mild violence (pratically inexistant)**

**I do not own the _Avengers, _but I thank God - Stan Lee - in each of my prayers for its existence.**

* * *

_**"She's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to grow."**_

_**by **_**OnceUponAPenname.**

**\- _Prologue -_**

* * *

**MIDTOWN MANHATTAN**

**NEW YORK**

New York City. Maria didn't see the appeal others did. And she lived in the city. Sure, it was a nice place. Loud. Crowded. Awake. Sure, it had its benefits. Shops at every street. Thick crowd to get lost in. Long avenues where she could walk and think without paying attention to another person. Its sights, museums and historical monuments. The new _Stark _tower might become own, the brunette thought, glancing up at the freshly finished batiment through her dark fangs.

The one problem she had with the city, so far, was its inhabitants. Loud. Rude. All and always seeming to be in a rush. Not that the young woman minded. It reminded her of Chicago, in some way. Maybe if she wasn't used to it, she'd mind.

Maria took a long sip of coffee as her phone started buzzing in her back pocket. Knowing she couldn't stop without being pushed around by others, she let it buzz, trying to found a quiet place. Uh, more like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Groaning in annoyance, she took the device out to find out that she had a new message. Quickly taping against the screen, her lips quirked up at she read the text:

_'Rumor has it that my little sister is in the Big Apple. Jr texted me yesterday, saying that he was trying to win back. Who knew guys talked that much?'_

**'I suppose the rumor doesn't say that he finished at the hospital with the several stitches in his hand – which had found its way on my behind – after I stuck my fork into it. And I knew it. B. talked that much.'**

_'Maybe. So I guess you're on a break since you're talking to me?'_

Maria couldn't help the wave of guilt as she read the words. Sentiment that she didn't feel that often.

She wasn't payed to feel. Quite the opposite, actually. As she started compozing a response, her phone locked itself before unlocking again, a red alert sign appearing on the screen. The brunette sighed, brushed back her hair, clicking a few times on the sign before it finally dissapeared.

**'Not anymore, Be-**

Too busy writing to be aware of her surroundings, she suddenly ran into someone. Cue flying coffee cup. Cue stained white shirt. And then, Maria remembered why she, most of the time, hated New York City. Crowds. Arrogants pedestrians not paying attention to the world around them. _New Yorkers. _She started cursing, quickly putting her black-brownish hair into a ponytail and completely ignoring the Cause Of The Accident. Well, she ignored _it_ until _he_ started talking:

"I am _so _sorry, I wasn't looking. Are you okay? I hope it wasn't hot."

She looked up to stare him. Maria knew _she _was the one not looking. Or was she? How was she supposed to know? She wasn't looking. The brunette took her time to look at the man in front of her. He was taller and stronger that her, that was for of his arms seemed to be the double size of one of hers, at least. He had blond hair and deep blue eyes, was wearing a simple white shirt and jean, a brown leather jacket.

Noticing her staring, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, obviously looking for something while keeping to apologize:

"I'm truly sorry, ma'am, I-"

" _'Ma'am?'" _Maria interrupted, cocking an eyebrow "Seriously, how _old _do think I am? If anything you're older than me."

"Sorry." he repeated, wincing. "For that, too. Uh-, I can replace if you want, just tell me what you ordered and I'll buy it."

Uh. Weird. Were _New Yorkers nice_? Nope, that was a well-known fact. And they didn't stop to offer to replace your coffee after they previously spilled it on you. Even so, that was definitely a Brooklyn accent she heard in his voice as he apologized to her. Despite his nice attitude, she couldn't help but snap at him:

"Buy me a new coffee? So what, you can dump it on me too? No,_ thank you_."

At least she had stayed polite. Kinda. She threw her empty cup into a trash nearby and walked away, not paying to the tall and muscular blonde man. Maria quickly wrote a reply to her sister before composing a number and bringing the device to her ear. After a few seconds of wait, she heard a familiar male voice pick up:

"Coulson."

"I need someone to pick me up."

"What time?"

"In half hour, tops. I need to change, some moron made me spill my coffee."

"Roger that, Hill."

Maria was half-amused, half-annoyed when she heard the, bearly, repressed laughter in his voice. She hung up and started walking toward her apartment, hands stuffed in her pockets as Steve Rogers sat at a café, trying to forget the strange encounter he'd had with a stranger dark-haired woman.

**S.H.I.E.L.D PROJECT P.E.G.A.S.U.S FACILITY**

**NEW MEXICO**

As the helicopter slowly lowered down to the landing pad, Maria watched, her jaw clenched in concern and frustration, as men and women evacuated the building in a state of panic. Landing, the brunette could also a man in a suit, standing a few yards from the landing pad. A small smile formed itself on her lips as she recognized Phil Coulson, standing tall and proud, sunglasses on his nose even though night had fallen.

She got out of the chopper, quickly followed by Fury. Both of them approached the agent, Fury slightly yelling over the noise made by the helicopter as he asked

"How bad is it?"

"That's the problem, sir." he answered, shaking his head "We don't know."

Maria and Fury exchanged a look before following Coulson into the facility. As they walked through the radiation section, the young woman watched as hundred of technicians rassembling their stuff before running out of the building. Still walking, Phil started talking, again:

"Dr Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago."

"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to test phase." The director retorted, frowning.

"He wasn't testing it. He wasn't even in the room" he explained "Spontaneous advancement."

"It just turned itself on?" the brunette asked, crossing her arms.

Her face was stoic, professional, as usual and if she was with someone else than these two men, the concern in her voice wouldn't have been heard. Both of them chose to ignore it while Maria silently hoped that it wasn't bas as it sounded.

"What are the energy levels now?" Fury asked.

"Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered the evac."

"How long to get everyone out?"

"Campus should be clear in the next half hour." he replied.

"Do better." he ordered in his emotionless voice.

Coulson quickly nodded before turning around and walking away as both of them continued walked toward the radiation facility floor. Ignoring the psychological fight raging inside of her brain, Maria took a deep breath before saying:

"Sir, evacuation may be futile."

"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" He retorted, her words reaching deaf ears.

"If we can't control the Tesseract energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance." The young woman persisted.

"I need you to make sure that PHASE 2 prototypes are shipped out."

"Sir, is that really a priority right now?"

The SHIELD director stopped his tracks to stare at her with his one good eye. If she looked close enough and listened carefully, Maria would probably hear him growl and see smoke coming out of his ears.

"Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every piece of PHASE 2 on a truck and gone."

She restrained a sigh and glared up as she heard a snicker coming from higher grounds._Stupid Hawk._ She clenched her jaw before erasing any human expressions from her face and saying, in a monotone voice, almost robotic:

"Yes, sir."

As she walked toward some agents, Maria indicated them to follow her with a nod and quick hand gesture. Sure enough, both of them followed her without any discussion as they descended a few floors. When the brunette and her escorts arrived in front of a reinforced door. She quickly unlocked it by taping on an eletronical tablet.

Entering the floor, the young woman noticed that this floor was as active as the radiation facility one. People obviously had the order to lock and evacuate everything before she did. In a corner, she could see a blonde woman standing. Unlike others around her, she was wearing a white coat lab and had a pair of glasses perched over her blonde loosed hair. Frowing her eyebrows, she called:

"Bobbi?"

Barbara – Bobbi – Morse a.k.a Agent 19 looked up when she heard the call of her name. She let out a sigh of relief when her blue eyes found Maria's brown eyes and started walking toward her. Her not-so-long coat lab was short enough that the brunette could see Bobbi was wearing a knee-length black skirt, hugging her thighs and a white blouse. Her heels clicked on the floor as she got closer.

"Maria, what the hell is going on?"

" _'What the hell is going on?', _what are _you _doing done here? How did you even got in?" Maria retorted, cocking an eyebrow and crossing her arms across her chest.

"I'm good with computers, whatever. That's not important. What _is _important why Sitwell came in earlier, ordering us to pack everything and told us to evacuing the building."

Maria was about to retort when, suddenly, the facility was shaken by a wave of energy. _The Tesseract_, she thought worriedly as she looked up. She was brought out of her thoughts when Bobbi said:

"Now, that, don't tell me nothing, cuz' _that _was something."

Her brown eyes hardened as she stared down at the blond and slipped into her Deputy Director persona, saying:

"This isn't of your concern, Agent 19. Being a level 6 agent and a bio-chemist, your presence, down here, is unrequired and unauthorized. So you should followed orders, not defy your superiors nor hack into classified levels and evacuate the building as everyone else. Am I being clear, Morse?"

Scowling, the blonde swallowed her protest and muttered as she turned on her heels."

"Crystal, Deputy."

Maria ignored the young woman and looked around. They were too busy locking weapons away to pay attention to her. The brunette turned to face the two agents who had accompagnied her down. One of them had dissapeared to help his fellow colleagues while the other was still standing behind her, looking useless. She rolled her eyes, shot a quick look at her watch before yelling:

"WE DON'T HAVE ANYTIME TO STAND AROUND AND SMELL THE ROSES, PEOPLE! If you aren't doing anything, OUT! If weapons and files are locked, go down to the bunker to load the cases. This is an _evacuation_, not a freakin' break or recess."

She didn't wait for a reply before going down to the parking lot herself. To her relief, the few agents, there, seemed to be working actively. A young man stopped his work at her appearance. He closed the car and turned toward Maria, standing straight and putting his hands behind his back.

"Deputy."

"Ashton. How many vehicules are fulled?" She asked with a nod, adknowledging his greeting.

"So far, we have ten of them good to go, ma'am."

"Good."

As the young brunette turned around to leave, she saw Clint Barton a.k.a _Hawkeye _walking toward them, followed by Selvig, a few persons she recognized and a man she had never seen before. She frowned as Clint sai-, no, _ordered_ as he pointed toward himself and people around him:

"Need these vehicules"

He didn't wait for a reply before going toward the car, the tall and dark-haired stranger looking at her with a strange curiosty. Frowning, Maria wondered:

"Who's that?"

"He didn't tell me."

_Liar. _She started walking away, still eyeing the strange team of the marksman, as her walkie started to crackle. That was when all hell broke loose. Litteraly. Cue gunshots. Cue dangerous car chases. Cue more shootings. Cue car wobbling, almost barreling. Cue behind sandwiched into a crushed car by a collapsing tunnel.

Maria groaned as she kicked the door opened. The walkie started crackling again, voices shouting:

"Director? Director Fury, do you copy?" _Coulson._

"The Tesseract is with the hostile. I have men down. Hill?" _Fury._

Pushing herself out, then up, she hook her walkie off of her belt and answered:

"A lot of men still under, don't know how many survivors."

Even if she knew, she would pretend to ignore it. She didn't want to know that kind of details. Especially if those deaths were caused by agents.

"Sound the general call. I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase."

"Roger that." The brunette quickly replied.

"Coulson, get back to base. This is level 7." She could hear the older man inhale before he continued "As of right now, we are at war."

A beat.

"What do we do?" Coulson finally asked what they were all wondering.

But as of right now, nobody had an answer to give him.

* * *

**A/N : First of all, if you're reading this, I'd like to thank and congralute you for not stopping your reading. Secondly, it would mean the world to me if you would leave a review ! Your thoughts are more than important to me !**

**Ok, bye!**


	2. struggling to make things right

**A/N : A humongous thank you to those who bothered to click on this fanfic, read, follow and comment it! As a struggling writer, it means a lot to me and it inspires me to continue this story, to satisfy you ! Because, honestly, if people weren't reading this, I wouldn't bother writing. So thank you.**

**Without further ado, here's the first chapter of **_She's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to grow_

**Bruce's P.O.V**

* * *

**"_She's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to grow."_**

**_by _OnceUponAPenname**

_**\- Chapter one - "Struggling to make things right"**_

* * *

**HELICARRIER LANDING STRIP**

Dr Bruce Banner wanted to bolt the second the small plane - called Quinjet by Romanoff and others SHIELD agents – landed. People around him were too busy to notice him. The one who did notice him either stare in fear and glare in anger. Either way, they kept their distance from him and he kept his distance from them. He should've stayed in India. He could have. He was the Hulk after all. A weapon. A massive killing machine. The doctor shook his head, trying to keep the voices away. Voices that sounded a lot like General 'Thunderbolt' Ross. The irony.

Romanoff had left him, walking away with no explanation and he really didn't care. He knew he had scared her, earlier. He hadn't really care either. Yet, he did care. She had been bold, daring even though she knew he was prompt to turn into the Other Guy as he nicknamed him. She had reminded him of Betty. But no matter how brave Natasha Romanoff may have seemed, she didn't trust him. She wasn't Betty Ross. And he liked to think that Elizabeth 'Betty' Ross trusted _him. _Bruce _and _the Other was when he his realized that he didn't care about Agent Natasha Romanoff or any persons he might recountered during his stay.

So here he stood, nervously playing with his hands and moving around as he tried to avoid people walking in his way and him walking in their. He heard them before seeing them. Two persons. One unknown male, one familiar female. They were talking about... _trading cards_?

"Dr. Banner." The unknown male called.

Bruce looked up to see one tall and muscular blonde man walking toward him, Romanoff trailing behind him. The scientist quickly recognized the blue-eyed blonde man as Captain Steven Rogers, the only successful subject who had been injected with the serum in the 1940s. He prefered to see him as a subject than an actual person. It was easier. He only had a few seconds to calm himself as Steve came closer, a hand outstretched.

"Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming." Bruce simply said.

"Word is you can find the cube."

"Is that the only word about me?" He asked, the ghost of a sarcastic smirk on his face.

"Only word I care about." Steve simply replied.

Bruce hummed as Steve looked at him, smirking slightly. He didn't seemed to care. The super-soldier didn't pay him much attention before turning around and looking around the bridge, obviously impressed. _A little talk wouldn't hurt_, thought the gamma-expert.

"Must be strange for you, all of this."

"Well, this is actually kind of familiar." The blonde man replied, stuffing his hands in his pocket

_Military background, right_ Bruce reminded himself with a nod. The redhead agent chose this moment to approach the two men. Well, she approached Steve. He just happened to be standing next to him.

"Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath."

As those words were spoken, the Helicarrier started to shake and workers started to strap the small plans onto the bridge and ran around an as the motors and engines were turned on. Still impressed and a little bit curious, Steve started walking toward the edge and asked:

"Is this is a submarine?"

_I highly doubt it _"Really?" Bruce scoffed "They want me in a submerged pressurized metal container."

As they both stood near to the edge, four huges lift vans appeared from the sides and the Helicarrier started to elevate in the air. Steve kept watching in awe as Bruce sarcastically smiled and yelled over the noise:

"OH NO, THIS IS MUCH WORSE!"

**INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE.**

**IN THE AIR.**

Both Steve and Bruce followed Natasha into the aircraft, drinking in awe everything around them. Agents with matching outfits were moving around, computers lined up and people shouting things at each ocher in the chaos and noise, and somehow, understanding each other. The deadly ginger beauty turned to them, an amused smile on her lips as she watched them. Steve looked like a little kid in a toy store, eyes wide ans mouth open while Bruce tried not to touch anything or attract attention to himself, avoiding any forms of autority.

"-All engines operating. S.H.I.E.L.D emergency protocol 193.6 in affect." A tall brunette ordered around her, which made nosense to the doctor but others seemed to understand "We are at lock, sir." she added, turning to a dark-skinned eye-patched man.

"Good. Let's vanish." The man he knew as Nick Fury simply said.

As the brunette, not facing him, kept shouting orders as Nick Fury stepped down of his pad, with a simple:

"Gentlemen."

Bruce frowned when Steve slipped a 10-dollar bill into the SHIELD director's hand, the former not looking at him, still in awe. The dark-brownish haired woman, standing next to him, eyed strangely, almost imitating the doctor's facial expression. And that was when Bruce finally realized that he knew the young woman. He knew this dark-haired and brown haired woman he already knew years ago. Except that her then-playful brown eyes were now, cold and her dark hair were up in a perfect bun.

"Doctor." Fury called, bringing the attention to him "Thanks for coming."

Her brown eyes met his for a few seconds before she bowed her head, breaking the small exchange. Bruce cleared his throat before turning to the dark-skinned man and said:

"Thanks for asking so nicely. So, uh.. How long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear."

Even though he didn't believe he'd ever be in the clear with any authority, he nodded and wondered:

"Where are you with that?"

He turned to a man wearing a suit – who seemed to have appeared from nowhere – and waited for him to continue. Natasha, not seeming to be interested, bent down to examine something on the screens nearby. The suit-wearing man – Agent Phil Coulson, he learned earlier – cleared his throat and said:

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"That's still not gonna find them in time." Natasha protested, paying attention after all, as she looked up."

"You have to narrow the field. How many spectometers do you have access to?" And as he asked that, Bruce could swore he saw the hint of a smile on the brunette's lips.

"How many are there?" Fury inquired.

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least, we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

Bruce was aware that most of them hadn't understand a word he had just said, but they didn't dare to cross him. He restrained a snicker as they exchanged a few glances. Fury finally said:

"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please."

The redhead straightened and nodded as she passed him by, asking him mutely to follow him. He did. But before that, Bruce turned toward the tall dark-haired woman and said:

"It's good to see you, Maria."

Both agents, supersoldier and directors looked at the brunette as she sighed and looked at him with a small smile, replying.

"You too, Bruce."

The doctor returned the smile and followed Natasha as the latter broke the silence, saying:

"You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys."

**IN THE HELICARRIER LAB,**

**IN THE AIR.**

Bruce was playing with a pen between his fingers, twirling in his chair. He had the lab all by himself. Not that they trusted him to be alone, no. The lab was guarded by two armed agents. The gamma expert scoffed as he thought about it. As if it was going to change something if he turned into a 8 feet green raging monster.

He heard a _'slush' _sound and looked up as the doors automatically opened. Bruce straightened when he saw Maria enter the room, a trail of food in her hands. Scowling, he asked in a sarcastic – sarcasm had become him – tone:

"You volunteer to feed the monster?"

The brunette scoffed as she sat beside him, placing the trail on a table. Crossing her legs and arms, she leaned against the back of her chair.

"Don't be a martyr, Bruce. Nobody likes them."

"I thought nobody likes smartasses." He muttered.

"That too." she said, playing with the hem of her shirt.

Bruce watched her carefully, tilting his head to the side. Gone was the rebellious teenager who helped him sneak into her house, hiding him away from her father and him helping her with scientific homeworks while waiting for her sister. Caughting his glance, she smiled and asked, frowning:

"What is it?"

"Nothing. Just... wondering how's life."

"Right" the brunette scoffed "You just want to hear about Betty."

He tried to wince at the name, but he could see that Maria had noticed. So, he grabbed a triangle sandwich and bit into it, not wondering if something had been slipped into for the first time since he returned. He swallowed the food, before saying again:

"No, seriously. I was wondering how little Mariana Ross had evolved into... _this."_

"Well, ain't you flattering! And it's Maria Hill, now. Mariana _Ross _seemed so wrong." Maria was the one to wince this time.

"I bet."

A silence fell into the lab, interrupted by crunching and slurping every thirty seconds. Still not looking up, the brunette muttered:

"You shouldn't have come, B. You could have say no."

"I thought about it." The doctor said. "But then, again, I didn't really have a choice."

"You do realize that your presence, here, is already getting you in trouble. And I'm not talking about SHIELD people or FBI agents. I-"

"_Mari_a!" Bruce interrupted, making the dark-haired woman looking up at him. "I _know._ And I don't worry about it for now. I'm just here to do my job, and hopefully, I'll do it quickly so I can get out of here. But" the doctor shot a look at his watch before adding "It's pretty late. I think I deserve a break. Sooo, _Maria... _How's life?"

A rare smile appeared on her lips as Maria reached to grab the apple resting on the food trail and bit into it. Bruce grinned as he leaned back into his chair, bringing the other half of his sandwich in his mouth. Between bits, both of them exchanged a few words, laughed when needed, not bothered by the occasionals silences. Maybe he didn't regret coming out of hiding that much.

* * *

**TBC.**


	3. all her life, she's been told

**A/N : Finally, third chapter! So sorry for the late update, I'm in the middle of my senior year, which means lot of work and little time to write to my misery. So here it is, peeps!**

* * *

**"_She's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to grow."_**

**_by _OnceUponAPenname**

_**\- Chapter two - "All her life, she's been told : she'll be nothing when she's old." **_

* * *

**MARIA'S P.O.V**

**INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE.**

**IN THE AIR. **

"It's good to see you, Maria."

Maria froze as she felt all pair of eyes settle on her. She had noticed _him _as soon as _he _stepped into the helicarrier, but she was too busy trying to ignore and program/coordinate the take-off of the _freaking _aircraft they were currently in to acknowledge him. The dark-haired woman swallowed the lump in her throat, slowly turned around and replied, a small smile appearing on her face:

"You too, Bruce."

The doctor returned it, hesitating, before following the deadly redhead. At they got out, Maria let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, still feeling pairs of eyes on her person. Fury was the first to react:

"I hope we won't have any issues considering Dr. Banner, Hill."

"No, we won't, sir." The young woman deadpanned, turning toward her superior.

"Good. I expect you to work along. And please, brief Agent 19 before sending her to assist the doctor."

"Yes, s- wait, _what?!" _Maria quickly interrupted herself, staring at the director in disbelief. "With all due respect, sir, agent Morse's status doesn't allow her to work on this nor to assist Banner. She's a level 6 bio-chemist and-"

"And she is the best we have." Fury was the one to interrupt her, this time, glaring at her with his one-good eye. "We need everyone on this. And about 19's status, you might want to check you the lastest upgrades, deputy."

The dark-skinned man turned around and left before she couldn't retort or protest. Maria groaned, grumbling under her breath. _Great. _She had to ask for help after she had played _Bitchy Deputy _earlier. Well, she wasn't really-

"_Wait._" A male and familiar interrupted her train of thoughts. She turned her head and her brown eyes met the blue gaze of the tall and muscular blonde man. "I know you."

"Of course you know me, _Einstein." _she retorted in an irritated tone, cocking an eyebrow. "You made me dump my coffee all over myself. That's not something you forget easily."

"You mean, _Latte Moron _is _freakin' _Captain America?" Coulson muttered, then blushed red when the blonde turned to stare at him, his eyebrows frowned in confusion at the nickname.

"No, I mean _Captain America_ is a _freakin'_ Latte Moron" she corrected, both of her eyebrow hiding behind her dark bangs.

And imitating her boss, she turned around, not allowing them to retort as she hid a small smirk and walked toward senior agent Avery, the older man looking up and smiling as he heard approach. He drawled, his voice laced with a heavy southern accent

"Well, hello, suga'. Wha' new with ya?"

Her smile became more genuine. Kenneth – Ken – Avery was one of the only persons working for S.H.I. she actually liked. Along with Phil, she had become someone she looked up to, a faternal figure – 'cuz' God knew she needed a faternal figure. Her '_father'_ sucked. She sighed and answered, with a shrug of her shoulder:

"Nothing much, just trying to safe the world."

"HA! Ain't ya modest!"

"I don't need to be modest, just realistic." Maria retorted with a smirk. "Anyway, do you have any idea where the hell Sitwell disappeared? I need to go check on our Lab Rats and Coulson is too starstruck by the ol' Captain over there to watch over the bridge."

"Respect ya' elders, lass!" Avery let out a booming laugh. "And I'm pretta sure baldie is hangin' with Boss Man. But I could watch over, if ya want to."

Maria grinned at him instead of replying and started walking toward the labs, shouting a _thank you _as the doors closed behind her.

**IN THE HELICARRIER LAB,**

**IN THE AIR.**

Maria quickly walked toward the scientific part of the aircraft, greeting the few agents she met on her way. As she got closer to the labs, she could see Bruce examing the gadgets at his disposal and setting his own. The brunette allowed herself a small smile as she watched the gamma expert observing his surroundings in awe.

"Deputy Hill." A male voice called her.

The young woman turned her head to see a grey-bearded man and white lab cot wearing, walking toward her. She smiled as she greeted him:

"Dr Maclain, how are the updates on Mr. Rogers' suit coming?"

"Oh, the suit is over. However, the re-creation of our Captain's shield is quite the struggle, but I don't want to bore you with the scientific details, Deputy. "

They shared a laugh that quickly a few seconds of silence, the scientist glanced over her shoulder, where she knew Bruce was already working, before wondering aloud:

"We might have a chance after all, huh?"

The dark-haired woman nodded before walking into the hive-lookalike lab. Despite the chaos, Maria immediately spotted the blonde head of Bobbi Morse. She took a deep breath before making her way over. The younger woman looked up at her arrival, goggles over her blue eyes and blonde hair in a ponytail.

"Deputy." she spat.

"19. What do we got?" Maria asked, her tone wary.

"Classified."she deadpanned.

"_Bobbi_" she stressed out the woman's nickname, feeling a headache coming on.

"Okay, I get that Asgardian gods – or aliens, _whatever – _invading the planet and turning people into aliens-puppets is stressful, but no one tells me what to or not to do. Except Fury, cuz he has one eye and that's _freakin' _scary. Not only the fact that he has one eye, but his name is _Fury. _Couldn't you have told me that Barton had been compromised and that today might be the end of the world?"

The blonde stopped rambling to breathe. Maria stared at the younger woman, unimpressed. She knew the biochemist and her temper. She had been expecting it. When Bobbi looked back at her, the fury in her eyes had been replaced by concern as she asked:

"Did we located them already?"

"No" she sighed "That's why I'm here. We need an extra pair of hands and that extra pair is _yours._"

"What do you need _me_ for?" The blonde asked, hesitant.

"Banner's working on his own for now, but calls are being made to labs all around, so we can have all materials and informations at our disposal. However, most of these labs are suspicious of govermental agencies that no one heard of, so... We need the best hacker we've got. You know, just in case." Maria quickly explained.

" '_Hacking'_ is such an ugly word." The scientist retorted, wrinkling her nose, as if she was disgusted just by saying it "It's more like borrowing intel without permission. I'm not even keeping it for my-_wait" _Stopping her own babbling, Bobbi turned toward Maria, eyes wide-opened. "_Banner? _As in Dr Bruce Banner, gamma expert, workshipped by FitzSimmons? That Bruce Banner?"

"Who the hell is FitzSimmons?" The dark-brownish haired woman asked, frowning her eyebrows.

She waved it off and kept staring at her, waiting for an answer to her previous question. Maria sighed, not knowing what to expect after she'd reply. Yes, the blonde woman didn't seemed interested in working with the Hulk nor did she seemed to fear him. At the very least, Bobbi seemed eager to work with Dr Bruce Banner. Still.

Taking a deep breath, she faked a smirk as she said:

"Yes, _that _Banner. Think that you can handle it, Morse?"

…

"Hell, _yeah!_"

As she left Bobbi with Bruce, making sure that neither of them were uncomfortable working with each other, Maria started walking back toward the bridge of the aircraft. Tired, she let her hair out of her tight bun and wrapped it again in a loose ponytail. The aircraft was still sailing, calm overcoming the helicarrier as agents worked quietly and actively.

"Hi."

Silence broken by a deep familiar voice which made her jump. Not that she would admit it to anyone if they asked. Taking a few seconds to mask her emotions, she, then, turned around to face Captain America. The blond was his hands stuffed in his pockets and a small smile on his lips as he pushed himself from the wall he was leaning onto and started walking toward her to catch up. The brunette - unimpressed by the presence of the tall World War II soldier, unlike others – cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms as she asked:

"Do you need something?"

"Hum, no. Thanks. I was just trying walking, trying to find my way around here and I saw you."

"And you found it necessary to engage contact?" She retorted, her words dripping with sarcasm. Maria smirked when she saw him frown "Well, Captain, you'll quickly find out that I like to stay away from any civilization."

Then she turned away, her hair swinging as she walked. She gritted her teeth as she heard loud steps follow her. Steve quickly fell into step with the brunette woman and asked, casually:

"So, what do you do around here?"

Maria stopped again and turned to look at him. He had a small grin as he looked down at her. He didn't seem irritated by her behaviour. If anything, Steve was amused. Inwardly groaning, she started moving again and replied, through gritted teeth:

"I'm Fury's deputy. If anyone needs something, they come to me first. I'm in a charge of selectionning potential SHIELD agents and am the liaison between other govermental agencies. Among others things." The brunette explained when she saw him frown again.

"Oh, I know what a deputy is. You just seem so..._young._" The blonde retorted, hesitating on the last word."

"Says the the 20-something guy who became Captain within a _week._" She grumbled as they arrived to the bridge.

"Touché." Steve muttered.

As she walked in, Ken caught his eye and winked at her from the platform. Maria smiled at him and started moving toward the older man to replace him. Well, she intended to before she froze as Steve said:

"You don't like me."

Irritated, she spun around and spat, her jaw clenched:

"I don't know you! And our first meeting didn't leave a good first impression."

"You make me seem like the bad guy, here." The blonde retorted, crossing his arms. As she cocked an eyebrow, he added "You were the one texting when you ran into me. I was just being a gentleman when I admitted the fault."

"Well, sorry,_ Captain, _if I don't swoon and drool in your presence. I've got some respect for myself."

The brunette didn't let him the time to retort as she pratically ran to her platform, from where Avery was observing her with a knowing smirk. She rolled her brown eyes at him and asked as she noticed the file in his hands:

"What's that?"

" A gift from ol' Maclain. Tha updates on the lass' suit and shield wer' approved by the Board." He replied, handing the folder to the younger woman.

"Really? Wow, that was fast." Maria muttered to herself, quickly scanning it. Looking up, she nodded "Thanks, Avery."

He theatrically bowed before her as he left the platform. She watched as he left and her eyes settled on the pair Rogers/Coulson talking. She smirked as she watched a small blush forming on the older man's cheeks. She deflected her gaze as Steve turned his head and observed the other agents working, imitated by Fury a few feet away.

"We got a hit." Sitwell suddenly shouted. Maria started walking toward him, followed by Coulson, while his eyes stayed stuck to the screen in front of him. "Sixty-sevent percent match. Weight, cross match. Seventy-nine percent."

"Location?" Coulson asked, peering over her shoulder.

"Stuttgard, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding." The bald-man answered

He typed, a few times, widening the image, so everyone could clearly see as the god/alien Loki strolling in the museum.

"Captain, you're up." Fury announced, turning to face the tall soldier.

Maria watched as he nodded, previous amusement gone from his face, and walked toward the locker rooms, where the dark-brownish haired woman knew his suit was disposed.

"Hill, make sure Romanoff is ready to take off." Fury ordered, not looking at her as he retreated to his office

"Yes, sir." she muttered before walking toward the taking-off pad.

Things were about to get interesting.

* * *

**TBC.**

**Reviews are love!**


	4. they took away the prophet

**A/N : So I've seen _Avengers : Age of Ultron_ this morning.. And let me tell you : it. was. AWESOME! God, I loved every second of it and it made me love Hawkeye even more (if that's even possible). Gosh, I'm excited just thinking about it. The characters' development is just... great. I LOVED IT. I won't spoil anything but I'm pretty sure Whedon secretly made the movie about Hawkeye. And, oh! Aaron Taylor Johnson as Quicksilver : perfection (Evan Peters was pretty good, too).**

**Anywoo, thank you for the feedback, nerds and I'm sorry for the lack of chapters. My excuse? Senior Year is slowly and painfully killing me. I'm so looking forward to graduation and college next year (I won't be saying this in September.)**

**I'm done rambling: here you go!**

* * *

_**"She's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to grow."**_

_**by **_**OnceUponAPenname**

**\- C_hapter three - "they took away the prophet's dream for a profit on the street"_**

* * *

**BRUCE'S P.O.V**

**INT. HELICARRIER SCIENTIFIC WING.**

**IN THE AIR.**

Bruce yawned as he kept staring at the screens in front of him. He had take upon himself not to punch the computers around him as he read the words – **Research : ****Inconclusive -. **He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. For the last couple of hours, the helicarrier was been surprinsgly quiet. Couple of hours during which he stayed alone – except for the ten minutes during which a nervous agent had brought him a kind of specter to examine - when Agent Morse had left him. Again, to his surprise, the young S.H.I.E.L.D bio-chemist didn't make him want to hulk out and smash her against the walls like a rag doll. After introducing both of them, Maria had joked that since they spoke the same language – scientific language – they would get along easily. And the brunette had been right.

The sudden noise of footsteps made him look through the window. Armed and covered in black . were walking down the halls, escorting a tall dark haired man. The latter has wearing some kind of armor, his shoulder length hair was spiked and his hands were handcuffed. He looked up at him, his blue eyes examining the doctor then smiled and nodded at him before vanishing. Frowning, he looked back to the staff he was working on earlier and the file laying open next to it. Staring back at him were the deep blue eyes. Above the photography was written a name. _Loki. _Bruce groaned, rubbing his head. As if they needed more crazies.

**INT. HELICARRIER BRIEFING ROOM**

Bruce had, reluctantly, left his lab to go and meet others _wannabe superheroes playing pew-pew –_ according to an extremely sarcastic Maria - in the briefing room. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat as he eyed Thor. Norse God of Thunder. Or alien. Whatever. The god was flanked by the Captain and Romanoff, both ignoring him as they stared at the monitor in front of them. Maria adknowledged him with a small smile as Thor nodded at his arrival, looking a little perplexed but not questionning his presence. The doctor sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he watched Fury interact with the other crazy god/alien/trickster and found himself weirded out as the scary-looking S.H.I.E.L.D director used sarcasm and _almost _allowed himself to smile when Fury took away like the diva that he was.

All of them stayed silent, considering what they had watched. Until Bruce grew tired of the silence and said, sarcasm and fake innocence dripping from his words:

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So Thor, what's his play?" Rogers said, ignoring the gamma expert as he turned his chair toward the taller blond.

"He has an army called the Chitauri " Bruce had to take a deep breath and restrained himself to jump when Thor boomed "They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." a

"An army?" The Captain asked, cocking an eyebrow "From outer space?"

_Welcome to the 21__st__ century, Captain, _the doctor thought as he stiffened a smirk and crossed his arms, fingers playing with his glasses. God, he groaned, even his thoughts were sarcastic, these days. He sighed. Well, no one could blame him. Bruce jumped back into the conversation:

"So he's building another portal. That's why he needs Selvig for."

_And that's A+ for sharing and communicating with others, Brucie! _A falsly happy voice ringed into his mind only to be replaced by a loud grunt and some grumbled words he didn't try to understand. Bruce closed his eyes shut for a second before tuning back in and turning toward Thor. 'Cuz he was the one talking... right?

"Selvig?"

"He's an astrophysicist" Bruce explained after noticing the frown on his face.

"He's a friend." Thor retorted.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Natasha said, her voice_ almost_ emotionless. Key word: almost.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him." Steve said, unconsciously falling back into leader-mode, his voice commanding "He's not leading any army from here."

_Obviously._

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is full of cats, you can smell crazy on him." Bruce intervened, ignoring one of the small voices in _his _brain.

_Brucie, Brucie, _the loud voice fake-scolded and if the doctor focused, he could see Him shaking his head in dissapoitement, _this is not how you make friends. At least, you didn't crush thoses puny humans into __**our **__fists. Yet. _Then he laughed. And laughed. And laughed, giving Bruce a headache. Ignoring the looks he received from Maria and Romanoff, he clenched his fists and shook his head.

"-Careful how you speak" Thor thundered – pun shamelessly intended – as he turned to glare at him "Loki is beyond reason, buth he is from Asgard. And is my brother."

"He killed 80 persons in two days." The redhead deadpanned.

"...He's adopted." Thor admitted.

Behind the God, Bruce could see Maria hide a smirk and himself couldn't help but snort. Before he had entered the briefing room, Coulson had warned him to take it easy on Thor, to be patient with him. But the gamma-expert was starting to realize that the tall blonde was smarter that people gave him credit for. His amusement dissapeared when his eyes settled onto the hologram in the middle of the room. He walked closer to the table and frowned, asking to himself mostly

"Iridium, what did they need Iridium for?"

Cue Tony Stark strolling into the room, hands stuffed in his pockets and Coulson following close behind. He could see Maria rolling her eyes and scowling while Romanoff almost seemed amused by the billionaire's speech until he mentionned an Agent Barton. Same as Thor, Tony Stark a.k.a Ironman wasn't as people portrayed him. Sure, he was eccentric, cocky and seemed annoying, but it was just a facade. An armor. Such as sarcasm and indian villages were his Safe Haven. And he was pretty sure anyone in the room wasn't fooled by it. Half-listening, half-thinking, he almost didn't notice Maria getting out, following a bald man. Jasper Sitwell, he reminded himself. Again, as Bruce was lost in his thoughts, a minor part of his brain still managed to keep up with the current conversation. As Steve asked a question, confused, the doctor jumped back into the conversation, explaining the situation as a professor would explain it to a student:

"He got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Couloumb barrier."

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." The billionaire protested, taking notice of Bruce's presence and ignoring the Captain's confusion.

"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on this planet."

"Finally, someone who speaks english." Tony declared, theaterically waving a hand toward his direction.

Soldier, God and agents watched dumbfounded as both scientists' shows and ignorance as both of them kept talking scientific nonsense. Bruce thought he might like Tony Stark, despite the whole arrogant-billionaire facade and-

"-and I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Until now.

* * *

**HILL'S P.O.V**

**SOME CONFERENCE ROOM ON THE HELICARRIER**

To say that Maria had been thrilled when she heard that Abigail Brand, commanding officer of S.W. and one of Xavier's numerous students,was the biggest lie ever told. Her dislike for the woman was known from everyone and anyone who had ever met both women. And the feeling was mutual. Still, she was an important ally and the leader of their counterpart agency, she had to bear with her while Fury was busy preventing the end of the world.

The brunette took a deep breath, tightened her ponytail before entering the conference room, a fake smile plastered on her face.

"Abby! Do I need to ask you how you got on board?"

The deputy inwardly groaned as she watched the slightly older woman scolded at her. She didn't look any different that from the last time Maria had seen her. Her green hair was in a french braid, resting on her left shoulder and her usual combinaison had been replaced by a dark leather jacket, black shirt underneath it and was wearing a matching black jean with combat guns were hanging from her belts, her usual glasses were covering most of her face and her hands were covered with fingerless gloves.

"Maria" The green-eyed woman greeted back, forcing a grimace-that-might-have-been-a-smile-but-was-more-of-a-grimace. "And to answer your question, let just say I have my ways."

"As long as I don't find out that you burned something and hurt someone to get on board, I really don't care." the deputy sighed, crossing her arms. "What do you want, Brand?"

"To talk to Fury." She spat, glaring at the tall brunette.

"Not going to be possible, he's dealing with an angry Alien/God that wants to take over the world." Maria retorted, her jaw clenched.

"My point, exactly!" Abigail exclaimed, causing Hill to jump slightly.

Not that she would admit. But she was a crazy mutant/alien hybrid capable to manipulate fire. That was scary.

"S.W.O.R.D was created for a reason, _deputy" _The green-haired woman continued, still glaring. "An agency that I'm directing and representing. Agency that, is supposed to deal with _these _situations. Please, pray tell, Hill, why was I not tell that a _freakin' Asgardian _is trying to take over the world?!"

"Maybe we didn't think your help was necessary, Brandt." The brunette spat, frustrated.

Abigail hissed, blue flames suddenly appearing her fingernails. Maria rolled her eyes and turned around, massaging her temples. Letting out a tired a sigh, she said:

"Look, Abby, we've got the situation under control. You're welcome to stay on board, if you wish, and your help will be appreciated."

The green-skinned woman kept glaring at her, her arms crossed and her jaw clenched. Maria mimicked her posture and, considering their talk as over, gave Abigail a stiff nod before turning around and walking away. Abigail watched, annoyed as the younger woman left her behind and as, the doors closed shut, she muttered:

"Don't say I didn't warn you, Mariana."

Then her hologram form slowly started to vanish.

* * *

**TBC.**


	5. she's got lions in her heart

**"_She's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to grow"_**

**_by _OnceUponAPenname**

_**\- chapter five - "she's got lions in her heart, a fire in her soul" - **_

* * *

**STEVE's P.O.V**

**ARMORY SEC., HELICARRIER**

Steve Rogers was starting to think that being left alone in his block of ice was better than any of this. After only two years to catch up on seventy years of change, he was suddenly thrown into a war. Again. Only this time, he didn't have to defend his country from a dictator, but he had to save the world from a power-craving and instable North God/alien. God that was the – adopted – brother of one of his... _teammates. _Talk about emotional conflict. Not that he was judging; he had himself ignored all orders to go save his own _'brother'_. He wasn't one to talk.

Afraid to get lost too deep into his thoughts, Steve shook his head and sighed as he got out of the lab, Stark's words still echoing in his mind. The son of his late friend was, also, an enigma to him. Though he had clearly inherited his brains from Howard, he didn't understand why Tony was so hostile to him. Steve had first been thrilled than one of his old friends had a legacy and the Captain had immediately researched the name he had been given : Anthony Edward Stark. And as much as the younger genius reminded him of Howard, both father and son were complete opposite. Where Howard seemed more opened and witty, Tony was closed off and extremely sarcastic.

Then there was Deputy Maria Hill. The cold, mean-looking yet young woman. Fury's second-in-arm. Almost as mysterious as the S.H. .D Director. She didn't seem to be older than twenty-five, thirty at the very last. Yet, everyone feared and respected her as the same time. Sure, she was the Deputy, but how exactly had she get this position? How experienced was she?

His train of thoughts was interrupted as he heard footsteps. Behind him was a young blonde woman wearing a lab coat and glasses and paying more attention to the file in her hands than to the agents surrounding her. Steve found himself observing her with amusement, smiling as people walked out of her to avoid a collision. As if she knew someone was watching her, the blonde woman raised her head and blue eyes met another pair of blue eyes. Steve wasn't oblivious to the way her eyes had widened in recognition, even though it had lasted a few seconds. Composing herself, the woman closed the file she was reading and said, crossing her arms against her chest:

"Hello."

"Hi."

"Hum.. are you lost? Do you need some help finding your way back to the bridge or something ?" She asked, her eyebrows frowned in confusion.

Steve lost his smile and his own eyes widened slightly when he realized that he, probably, shouldn't be on this side of the helicarrier. Nervously rubbing the back of his neck, Steve started to wreck his brain for an excuse.

"I was... looking for the bathroom?"

"Are you sure?" The blond retorted as she cocked an eyebrow, trying to stiffen an amused smirk.

"Yeah. Yes, sorry." Steve cleared his throat before adding "It's bigger than I thought and I may have gotten lost because I'm too proud to ask for directions."

The young woman let out a chuckle and her tense body relaxed as she did so. The captain flashed her a smile, sighing in relief when she looked away.

"You know, Captain, there is a lot of people in this ship that would be more than eager to help you.", she said.

"I assume you mean Coulson." Steve retorted, smirking in amusement.

"Well, I see you've met your biggest fan already." The woman snorted, looking as amused as the captain. "First bathroom is on your right, second door," she added, pointing to the corridor he had came from.

"Right. Well, your help has been much appreciated,..."

"Bobbi," the young biochemist guessed, holding a hand to shake. "Or agent Morse. Or 19. Whichever you prefer, sir."

"I prefer _Steve._" The blonde man corrected with a smile, shaking her hand "Thanks again, Bobbi."

"My pleasure." The agent replied, letting go of his hand.

Flashing her one more smile, Steve started walking in the direction Bobbi had indicated him. His eyes never left the door he had been so close to open and that seemed that keep so much secrets.

* * *

**MARIA'S P.O.V**

**HELICARRIER MAIN BRIDGE.**

The brunette clenched her jaw, restraining a yawn from escaping her lips under the amused gaze of Coulson. She glared at him, earning a playful wink from the older agent. Maria rolled her eyes : how could he be so playful and energetic when they were expecting the arrival of an alien army and had lost one of their own to the enemy camp? She guessed it had to do with the presence of Captain Stars and Stripes on board. Seriously the guy was excited about him it gave Maria a headache.

If you added the fact that Maria had been contacted by mutants and the military - she hadn't realized how much she despised her father until he tried to give her orders - the young deputy was ready to murder somebody. Closing her eyes, she took a breath, hoping it would calm her.

"Got anything new?"

Had she not been used to Nick Fury's imposing presence, Maria would have jumped and squealed. But she had been working - living - with him for ten years now. So she let out a sigh, opened her eyes and took the pad she had been using earlier to check on updates.

"Doesn't look like it. No sighting of Barton, Selvig or any turned rogue agents. The calm and normal weather, according to Thor, means that the attack. Invasion. Whatever you'd like to call it, won't happen if Loki stays locked up on the carrier. Porter is safe, so are Nathan, Potts and Laura."

"What about the crazy alien who currently resides here?" Fury insisted, frustrated by the lack of news.

"He.. has been sitting and staring at nothing for the past five hours, which is not only creepy but alarming. He hasn't talk to anyone but you either." Maria explained, pulling the security footing on the screens around them.

"Send in Romanoff. She'll crack him. What about Banner and Stark?

"I got nothing. All I know is that, a few hours ago, the camera in Bruce's lab stopped operating and we don't go eyes on the progression of his work anymore."

"You kiddin' me." Fury's eye was staring at her – and no, she was not squirming in discomfort -, cocking an eyebrow in disbelief. "And why am I learning about this just now?"

"I send Sitwell to find you the second I learnt about it." She protested – in vain.

The SHIELD Director rolled his eyes and turned away from her, his long leather dramatically whipping behind him. Maria kept her cool, calm posture as she listened to Fury swear under his breath, blaming Stark and his freaking AI. Taking a breath, the Deputy asked in a cold voice:

"Do you want me to deal with it, sir?"

"Damn it, you should've dealt with it hours ago! I'll handle Stark, you stay on the bridge and I want _you _to notify _me _the second you hear something."

"Roger that." Maria deadpanned, staring at him.

Again, Fury rolled his eye and walked toward the labs, still swearing and muttering under his breath about incompetent people and annoying geniuses. Maria sighed, closing her eyes one more time. And this time, when she felt like a yawn trying to escape her lips, she had her mouth wide opened

If you asked Maria now, she wouldn't be able to tell when hell broke loose. She had been overseeing the work of Bruce and Stark when she felt the helicarrier shake. And it wasn't a small turbulence. In fact, several agents were thrown back because of it. Then alarms started blazing, fires were being excinted and people got out guns.

Maria struggled to get back to the main console and started yelling orders, to whoever was listening to her:

"Turn on that engine! Number 3 engine is _down! _Can we get a run in?"

She didn't wait for an answer, running from agent to agent. Maria was aware of Fury yelling her name in her ear but she didn't pay attention to what he was saying. She ran over to the guy who was playing Galaga earlier, barking:

"Talk to me."

"Turbine's loose. Mostly intact, but it's impossible to get out there and make repairs while we're in the air." The blonde man explained, pointing at the monitors.

Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, the young Deputy brought a hand to her comm and said:

"Fury, we lose one more engine, we won't be in the air anymore. Somebody's got to get inside and patch that engine."

Again, she didn't wait for an answer. Going back to the platform, Maria took her pad and pulled the video footage of each section on the viewing screens surrounding her. Running a hand through her messy hair, the young dark haired woman walked toward a tech and ordered:

"Patch me through the Rats section."

"Yes, ma'am" was the immediate answer.

Maria restrained herself from rolling her eyes at the term and gave a thankful nod when she was handed a comm. a few seconds later. She switched the comms and asked:

"Bridge to Labs, does anyone copy?"

She held a breath for a few agonizing seconds when, suddenly, she heard a static noise followed then by a familiar voice.

"Labs to Bridge, we copy. What the hell is going on?"

"Morse" Maria sighed in relief "We just lost one engine, the enemy's currently on board and the Hulk is destroying the lower floor so I need you to listen to me and keep your trap shut. I need you evacuate the Sci. section. Save and lock whatever you're working and get everyone to report to the main bridge. Do you copy _that?_"

"Loud and clear" was Bobbi's immediate answer.

Maria nodded - even though she could see her - and brought a hand to ear, ready to turn off the comm.

"Ria, don't be a hero, ok? Stay safe."

The young Deputy froze as she heard the quiet and nervous whisper of the biochemist. Maria swallowed, blinking a few times as her vision became blurry and muttered:

"You too, Bobs."

Taking off the earpiece, the young woman took an instant to collect herself before going back to the platform. She wasn't surprised to see that Fury had came back and was putting the fear of God in some helmsman. He turned toward her at her arrival and again, Maria had to restrain from rolling her eyes when he gave her a quick over. She gave him a glare saying I-am-fine-stop-your-shit and Fury replied with one of his quit-being-insolent-child glares. Sighing, she handed him her pad and explained:

"Lab Rats are being evacuated. Same thing is being done with the armory section." Looking around, she frowned in confusion when she noticed an absence. "Where's Coulson?"

"He's dealing with our guest." The older man replied, his eyes stuck on the viewing screens.

"I thought Romanoff had him."

"_Right now_, Romanoff seems to playing an intense game of tag with the Hulk." he retorted, pointing to one of the screens.

And sure enough, Maria could see an injured Natasha running for her life with Bruce chasing her and destroying every obstacle he encountered.

"We need a full evac on the lower hangar bay."

Exhausted and not knowing what was left to say, Maria nodded and went to leave when something rolled to her feet. It took her a moment before she recognized it and her eyes widened as she yelled:

"GRENADE!"

A few seconds later, it went off and Maria was knocked over by the blast, landing down the steps with a sickening _crack. _Her ears were ringing, her vision was blurry and a monkey seemed to be playing drums with her brain. She groaned in pain, slowly rolling herself on her stomach. Well, she wasn't overwhelmed with pain and could still breath, so no broken ribs for her. _Yay._ From where she was laying, she could see heavily armed and protected with kelvar men walking onto the bridge.

Fury was standing a few feet away, firing at anyone and everyone. Closing her eyes for a second, Maria slowly tried to hiss herself to her feet, wincing in pain. Leaning against the desk, she reached for the gun, hooked to her belt. Biting the inside of her cheek until she drew blood, the brunette leaned on her good, straightening and squarring her shoulders as she raised the weapon.

Her hands were surprinsgly still, her vision shockingly clear and the pain in her leg seemed to have dissapeared as she stood, ready to take the shot. Maria didn't hesitate to pull the trigger as she watched one of Barton's men walk toward Fury, armed and merciless. The young woman felt satisfaction when the man hit the floor, a hole in his head, dead and felt smug when her superior shot a shocked glance. She didn't feel anything, though, when she let herself slip onto the floor and lost consciousness.

* * *

**WASHINGTON D.C,**

**VIRGINIA.**

**IN A SMALL DINER.**

For the umpteenth time since he had step into the diner, Bruce yawned. His head was killing him, his arms were killing him. His whole body was in pain. He couldn't move without wincing in pain. The janitor who had found him in his birthday suit, had been kind enough to give him clothes that fitted him and two bills of ten - because either Bruce was an alien or a crazy person that needed help. So far, the gamma-expert had used five dollars for a cap and sunglasses and was, now, waiting for a nice meal for less than fifteen dollars.

Lost in his thoughts, Bruce jumped when the nice waitress from earlier walked toward him and put his double cheeseburger and fries on the table, with an additional glass of water and aspirine. With a smile, he thanked the young woman and started eating his hot meal with obvious hunger.

Being back in the States had its advantages, he thought, greasy food might be an unhealthy thing but it still brought him comfort whenever and wherever he was.

"Bruce?"

The man froze and slowly raised his head, almost choking as his eyes met her familiar brown gaze. Well, at least Calcutta was good for one thing. It didn't have Betty Ross.

* * *

I OWN NOTHING


	6. all the kicks and the blows

**A/N :** I know, it's been almost a year since I've updated this fic but college! Again, thanks with for the feedback, it warms my heart to see people interested in this fic. Without further ado, here's the next installement of _She's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to grow._

**_DISCLAIMER : I don't own anything you might recognize._**

* * *

**"_She's stronger than she knows, a heart of steel starts to grow"  
_**

**_by _OnceUponAPenname**

**\- _Chap__ter__ six - "All the kicks and the blows, he won't ever let it show" -_**

* * *

"Hey."

'_Hey'? 'HEY?!' You haven't seen the woman in years and all you can say is freakin' 'hey?' _

Bruce cursed inwardly, his jaw clenching as _freakin' _Elizabeth Ross started walking toward his table, looking as gorgeous as ever. She was wearing a simple blue blouse with dark jeans, a matching cardigan and sneakers. Her brown haired was up in a messy bun and her blue eyes were hidden between glasses. Still, she looked beautiful. The gamma expert felt the need to stand up as she got closer, so he did.

Still gaping, Betty smiled at him and immediately wrapped her arms around back, Bruce hesitated a moment before wrapping his own arms around the woman's waist. He found himself smiling as her head found its way under his chin. He had forgotten how her body fitted perfectly with his. Unfortunately, Betty pulled back too soon to his liking. She let out a small a giggle, pushing back rebel strands of hair as she said:

"Sorry. Just- I- It's been a while."

"Yeah."

_Okay, seriously?! What the hell is __**wrong **__with you?!_

Bruce shook his head before returning the smile and sitting back on his chair, gesturing to do the same as he did so. Taking a sip of his coffee, the scientist cleared his throat and asked:

"So how've you been? And what are you doing in DC? It's a long way from Cali."

"I've been.. great. I'm actually attending a Science seminar." The brunette answered, playing with the plastic spoon in her cup. "Isn't that why you're here?"

"Ah.. no. I've been out of the country for a while. Trying to avoid civilization, stress..." _You._

Betty hummed, nodding in understanding. A silence formed itself between the former lovers. But it wasn't an awkward silence. Both of them were lost in their thoughts, one examining the other, each trying to ignore the events that had separated them. Clearing her throat – and bringing them both to the present – Betty asked:

"What are you here for, then?"

"Work."

Squinting her eyes at him, the young woman repeated, her tone doubtful:

"_'Work?'_ "

"Yep." _Don't look her in the eye, don't look her in the eye._

"Hm. Who for?" _Come on Banner, we were almost married, don't bullshit me._

"I'm helping some govermental agency search for something." Bruce blurted out.

Betty's blue eyes widened. It was almost amusing to see her blinking in disbelief. Key word of this sentence : _almost. _The situation was everything but amusing.

"_You _are working with _some govermental agency." _Betty emphasized the words by mimicking air-quotes with her fingers.

"Yep." Bruce repeated, lost for words.

"Wha- and what's the cost? Your_freedom_?!" The woman shrieked.

The gamma-expert had to look around them, afraid that her small outburst had attracted unwanted attention. Biting the inside of his cheek, Bruce looked back at Betty, the latter expecting an answer. Not knowing what to say, he shrugged. The brown haired woman scoffed lightly, leaning back into her chair, her arms crossed against her chest. Cocking an eyebrow, she asked:

"Is my father involved in this?"

Frowning at that, Bruce leaned in so his gaze could meet hers.

"I'm not actually that stupid, Betty." He whispered harshly. "I'm not Thaddeus Ross' lapdog or toy to play with."

Ignoring his sarcastic tone and jab at her father, Betty also leaned in, squinting her eyes as she asked:

"Is my sister involved in this?"

Now frowning in confusion, Bruce was about to ask how she knew about that but his attempt was stopped as Betty raised a hand, her eyes cold and her voice harsh as she said:

"Now, this is the last time I'm going to ask you this : what are you doing, Bruce? And why did SHIELD felt the need to call you?

* * *

The young woman woke up with a gasp. Breathing heavily, Maria brought a hand to the side of her head and was surprised to find that her previously bleeding gash had been bandaged. She hissed at the contact , quickly taking off her hand. Wincing in dolor, she tried to sit up but her left leg, feeling heavy, restrained her from doing so. In fact, her entire body felt heavy.

"Take it easy, buddy."

Jumping again, Maria groaned at the sudden headache that assaulted her brain. The young brunette closed her eyes for a moment, swallowing the bile that had risen up her throat. When she reopened them, she met Bobbi's blue and worried gaze. The blonde frowned in concern. Maria ignored it, propping herself up on her elbows, and opened her mouth to ask what the hell was going on. A couphing fit stopped her from saying a word. Bobbi quickly stood up and went to fill a cup.

Again ignoring her bandaged leg, Maria sat up. The ruffling of the sheets made the blonde scienticist turn and glare at her. The brunette replied with an angry scowl, smirking slightly when Bobbi sighed and shook her head.

The blonde woman went back to stand next to her friend, handing her the plastic cup of water. Maria took it with a grateful smile and quickly drowned it, oblivious to Bobbi's dissaproving the paper cup back, the young woman cleared her throat before asking:

"What the hell happened?"

Bobbi seemed hesitant to answer, avoiding the young deputy's gaze, examining the screen of a mini electrocardiogramme and pressing it every now and then. Much too Maria's annoyance.

"Bobbi!"

"Um- you hit your head pretty hard when you fell down the stairs, so you've got a concussion and a few stitches on your forehead. You also dislocated your knee, so we had to put a brace on it. You don't feel it now but-"

"_Bobs"_ Maria interrupted, using the blonde's affectionate nickname as she became more and more worried about the situation.

She became even more concerned as she watched the young biochemist blinking several times, benting her head as she wringed her hands, nervous. Clearing her throat, Bobbi looked up, her blue eyes shining with unleashed tears.

"Um- the helicarrier was attacked. By Barton's men, and-"

"What about Barton? Is he okay?" Maria interrupted again as she sat up abruptly, ignoring the pain in her leg.

"No, no he's fine. He's _back_." Bobbi was quick to reassure her friend, her voice slightly shaking. "It's just that we- we lost a _lot_. And Loki escaped. And Bruce and Thor are now _missing_ and-"

"What do you mean we '_lost a lot'?"_

Taking a shuddering breath, Bobbi's blue eyes met Maria's gaze as she announced:

"Ria, Coulson is dead."

Maria blinked. Several times. Her jaw was clenched and her hands had tightened into fists around the bed sheets. Every five seconds, the young woman reminded herself to keep breathing. Her vision became blurry and Maria tried to convince herself that the tears were caused by the pain in her leg, her headache and the adrealine wearing off. Closing her eyes for a second, Maria took a deep breath. When she re-opened them, her eyes were dry, cold and emotionless.

"What happened?"

"L-Loki got out." The blonde replied, slightly taken back by Maria's hard tone. Clearing her throat, Bobbi added "Coulson tried to talk to him, but crazy son of a bitch used one of his magic tricks and speared him through the heart."

_He's dealing with our guest._

Maria clenched her jaw and nodded her head, not meeting Bobbi's blue gaze when the latter took her hands in hers.

"Ria, I am _so,_ so sorry."

Again, the young deputy nodded and slowly took her hands out of Bobbi's grasp, wrapping her arms around herself and ignoring her friend's hurt expression when she did so. Maria looked up, smiled a smile-that-was-more-of-a-grimace and asked:

"Can I be alone? I'm just really tired and my head is killing me."

"Of course." Bobbi immedialy answered, nodding her head and smiling back. "I got you the good drugs but if you need anything else, my comm will stay open all night."

Maria's smile became more genuine at Bobbi's small attempt of humor.

"Thanks, Bobs."

Bobbi gave her a tired smile, squeezed her shoulder then got out of the room. Maria made sure to hear the door slam before – painfully – putting both of her feet on the floor and gritting her teeth in pain. Taking a deep breath, Maria pushed herself up and made sure not to lean on her injured leg. She, then, reached for her crutches and hobbled to the door, praying that Bobbi wouldn't be standing behind it and ready to stop her.

* * *

The bloods on the card had dried and Steve couldn't tear his eyes away from it. The feeling of helplessness had been replaced by guilt and his thoughts wouldn't leave him alone. Again, Steve felt that he had failed as a leader and was, now, backed into a corner, not knowing how to fight back.

With a sigh, the Captain downed the rest of his coffee and pushed himself off of the kitchen counter he was leaning on. After a moment of hesitation, he picked up the cards and, much to his dismay, realized that they were irrecoverable. Examining the drawings, His eyebrows frowned in thought, Steve sat down, dropped the cards back on the table and grabbed some clean napkins, patting his pockets for a pencil. When he had found one, he started sketching, his gaze darting from his doodles to the cards.

Steve had been so engrossed in his drawing that he didn't noticed the glass doors of the kitchen whoosing open when Maria entered the room. The brunette's brown eyes widened when she took notice of the blonde man's presence in the room. Biting her lower lip, Maria held both of her crutches with a hand, brushing back rogue strands of hair before she cleared her throat. She had to restrain a chuckle when Steve jump in his seat, obviously startled. Maria leaned against the wall, taking pressure of her injured leg as she watched Steve's wide blue eyes scan the room before finally seeing her.

He blinked at her a few times, as if assuring himself that she was really there and not a hallucination of his tired mind. Shaking his head, he then said, his voice hesitant.

"Hey."

"Hey." Maria returned the small greeting, crossing her legs so her right leg supported her entire body.

The movement didn't go unnoticed by Steve, the latter straightening in his chair as his eyes oveviewed her injuries, a worried and confused frown on his face.

"Are you alright?" The soldier almost seemed ready to stand up and come to her rescue if she were to fall.

"Yeah, just a few bumps and bruises." _And broken bones, _she added inwardly, slightly bitter.

Steve gave her small nod, not knowing what else to add. And Maria didn't know what was there to add, honestly. Steve tucked his pencil between his ear, scratching the back of his head and trying to avoid the younger woman's inquistive, piercing gaze. Which was ridiculous, he realized a few seconds later.

"God, Rogers. Get a grip." Steve muttered lowly to himself.

"Sorry?" Maria inquired, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Nothing, just talking to myself." The blonde soldier blurted out, forcing a smile. Maria shot him a skeptical glance and let out a small scoff. "What are you still doing up?"

"Making sure that the helicarrier stays up in the air. Not that I don't have faith in Stark's abilities but it's been a weird day." Maria admitted, a small smirk playing on her lips. "And looking for coffee."

Steve shot out of his seat and walked to the cupboards, taking out a mug under Maria's bemused gaze. As if he knew he was being observed, Steve turned to her and flashed her a smile

"You look like you're going to fall down any second. Just sit down, a'right?" At Maria's raised eyebrows, Steve rolled his eyes "I promise I won't drop it on you."

The corner of her lip twitched up in half a smile and she let out a sigh before dropping onto a chair. Steve gave a small nod before turning to the coffee maker. Maria sighed and put an elbow on the table, resting her head in her. She, then, let rubbed the back of herneck. The cards laying on the hard surface caught her attention.

Frowning, Maria tilted her head to the side and leaned over the table so she could reach for them. Sure enough, she recognized the drawings of Captain America on it. The only unusual thing about them was the blood covering them.

"Where did you get these?" Maria asked, her voice a little more breathless than she wanted it to be.

Steve turned back, coffee in hand, and followed the woman's gaze, his jaw clenching as he did so. Clearing his throat, he handed her the cup, sliding sweetners and cream in front of her.

"Director Fury gave them to me, actually. They found it in his frontpocket or something like that, and Fury thought that I should be the one they go to." Steve explained, taking back his seat.

"That's weird." Maria whispered, her fingers still caressing the coat of blood. At Steve's confused frown and tilt of head, she explained. "Not that Fury gave them to you, but that Phil carried them on his person. He's usually so careful with them." Her frown deepened. She was missing something.

Steve gave a understanding hum and nodded.

"Did you know him well?

Scoffing, Maria leaned back into her chair and craddled the cup into her chest.

"You'll find that most of SHIELD knew Coulson pretty well. He was part of Fury's trusted circle. He recruited both Barton and Romanoff. And he defended me when most of SHIELD were against the idea of a young, 'inexperienced', girl becoming the Director Deputy."

"I'm going take that as a 'yes'." Steve said with a humorless smile. Maria let out a dry chuckle escape her lips. "I'm sorry."

Tilting her head to the side, she put down her cup, crossed her arms and squinted her eyes at him.

"Do you apologize for _everything, _even when you're not at fault?"

Steve snorted, shaking his head.

"Not usually. I still feel like there's something we could've done." He muttered, biting his lip.

"You did something." Steve looked up at her, his eyebrows up. After a minute of hesitation, Maria leaned over and grabbed his hand. "You stopped an entire helicarrier from crashing to the ground_. The need of the many outweigh the new of the few.' _At his confused expression, Maria laughed and shook her head. "You really need to catch up on modern culture."

Though he was still confused, Steve couldn't help but let out a few chuckles. Maria leaned back, an amused smile on her face. Her facial expression become serious once more when her gaze fell back onto the cards. Noticing her change of behaviour – and the cause of it – Steve offered:

"You can keep them if you want."

"No, it's fine." Maria said, shaking her head "Fury was right when he said they should go back to you. I'll even give you the Cap and Bucky Bears if I found them." She added in a teasing tone.

"They were_ bears_?" Steve asked, scrunching his nose.

"Oh, they were _**huge**_ back then." Maria affirmed, standing up, careful craddling her cup of coffee so she wouldn't drop any of it. "Every kid had one." She added, trying not to wince as she stretched her bad leg.

Steve stood with her, watching her with concern as she winced. Taking a step toward her, he held out a hand.

"Do you need help?"

Blowing away the strands of hair that fell on her forehead, Maria shot him a small smirk:

"You'll find out, Captain, that I hate being asked this question. And that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Steve gave her a nod and stuffed his hands in his pockets, taking a few steps back. Maria's smirk turned into a genuine smile. "Thanks for the coffee, by the way."

"My pleasure, Deputy."

Steve watched with confusion and a bit of curiosity as the younger woman lingered in front of the door, biting her lip in hesitation. Minutes were passed in silence before she spoke up again.

"It's Maria."

With an amused grin spreading on his face, Steve pointed a thumb toward him.

"Steve."

The gesture felt ridiculous but Steve ignored any embarrasement he might have felt when Maria laughed. Pursing her lips to contain it, she gave him a nod before taking her leave. He kept a careful eye on her as she hobbled out of the kitchen, making sure she wasn't going to fall. When Steve went back to the table and returned to his sketching, he didn't notice the missing card.

* * *

Maria found Clint leaning over the railing, his observant blue eyes surveying everything around and under him. He was still wearing his tactical suit and combat boots, all ready to leave if needed be. The only thing missing were his arrows and bow. Maria inwardly winced when she noticed the purple bruise on the left side of his head. As she got closer, the younger woman saw that he was holding a icepack agains his cheek and noticed the butterfly stitches on his forehead.

"Not as bad as it looks." Clint stated, his cold gaze fixed on the lower level. With a crooked smile, he turned his head toward her. An eyebrow cocked, he looked her up and down and frowned "Should you even be up right now?"

Rolling her eyes, Maria went to lean against the railing. Bringing the mug of coffee closer to her chest, she lifted an eyebrow and retorted:

"I'm stronger than I look."

"Don't I know it." Clint snorted, returning to his observing. He tilted his head to the side. "So this is what war looks like."

With a frown, Maria followed his gaze to the lower level where agents were moving non-stop – some were slowed down by their injuries - in an organized mess. In the middle of all of it stood Nick Fury, tall and terrifying and joining no sign of fatigue. Maria hummed and tilted her head to the side :

"It doesn't look that unfamiliar. I mean, if you forgot about the aliens and demigods, that is." Maria said with a smile, earning a small chuckle from the archer. Pursing her lips, she lightly knocked his shoulder with hers "How are you holding up?"

"Fine, considering." Clint sighed, wincing a little when he straightened. He turned his head to her "What about you?"

"Could be worst." Maria retorted with a shrug. Pushing her self up, she stretched her arms over her head and took a look around. With a frown, she asked "Where's the Russian?"

"Sleeping." At his friend's dubious expression, he smirked "I might have convinced Bobbi to slip a little something in Nat's coffee."

"Oh my god." Maria guffawed, taking a sip of her own drink. "She's going to kill you when she wakes up."

"Well, I'll deflect all of her anger onto you when I'll tell her you call _The Russian._" Clint countered, cocking an eyebrow.

Maria rolled her eyes and scoffed, earning a laugh from the archer. His laugh quickly turned into a jaw-disloquing yawn. Snapping his mouth shut, Clint sighed and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands. Nibbling onto her bottom lip, Maria handed him her mug of coffee, nudging his arm with it. Clint turned and eyed the cup with a frown before looking up at her. Rolling her eyes once more, she pratically pushed the cup into his hands.

"You look like you need it more than I do." was Maria's gentle way of saying _you-look-like-shit-Barton. _The hidden meaning wasn't lost to Clint.

With a grin, he grabbed the cup with both hands, letting the heat emaning from it warm his hands. Maria returned the smile, grabbed the crutches she had left leaning on the railing and went to move away.

"You should rest a little bit, the calm won't last for long. Maybe get some shut-eye, call Laura."

Clint's jaw clenched and his hold tightned around the cup. Lowering his head, he let a humorless chuckle.

"I don't think she wants to talk to me." He muttered. "Hell, I didn't even think you'd want to talk to me, considering..."

"Considering you were brainwashed and mind-controlled by a crazy alien who thinks of himself as a God?" Maria interrupted, both of her eyebrows up. She grabbed his arm, making him look up at her again. "No one's blaming you – well, _some _might be but they don't matter. I don't blame you. Laura won't blame you." She gave him a small squeeze and let go of his arm "So dont't be stupider than usual and call your wife. That's an order, Barton."

The muttered _'ma'am, yes ma'am'_ she heard as she made her way to the elevators made her roll her eyes.

* * *

Her arrival on the bridge was greeted by silence nods, a few smiles and a few_ 'ma'am'. _Some tried to offer her help, her glare made them turn back to their work. When Maria finally made her way to the platform where Fury was standing, she could have collapsed – the _good drugs _Bobbi had given her were starting to wear off and Maria was really starting to feel her discolated knee. Like Steve and Clint, Fury gave her an once-over, a frown on his face.

Maria restrained herself from rolling her eyes for the umptenth time and grabbed the cup of coffee out of Fury's hands, relishing in its warmth. She ignored as he squinted his eye at her and looked up, asking.

"Mind telling me how did Rogers obtain something that was in Coulson's locker?"

"Were they in his locker?" Fury wondered, faking confusion.

Maria hummed and maintened eye-contact above the cup as she drank.

"Phil isn't stupid enough to keep valuable cards in his suitpocket when there's a war going on and a high possibily to be killed."

"As you said, Hill, there's a war going on." Fury said, turning back to the screens surrounding him. "Do you really think now is the time to be discussing the location of collectable cards?"

Clenching her jaw, Maria kept staring at him. When he turned back to her and raised his eyebrows, she realized that the question he was aking wasn't rhetorical. She cleared her throat.

"Of course not, sir. Is there anything I can do?"

"Well, since you seem so eager to help, you can go down the Rats floor and do an inventory of what's missing."

"Of course, sir." Maria said in a clipped tone, "I'll make sure to deliver a report as soon as possible."

Handing him the cup back, she hissed herself up from where she was leaning with her crutches and turned around, her ponytail whishing behind her as she did. She didn't turn back to know that Fury was watching her, almost as if he was making sure she wouldn't come back and ask more questions. Maria almost felt insulted. They both knew she'd be back with more questions.

* * *

**A/N 2 :** Please hit the button below and leave a review to share your thoughts !

Till next time.

K.


End file.
